Sweet Potato: Bioactive Compounds and Health Benefits

Abstract

Sweet potato, a delicious root vegetable, possesses high nutritional value. It is reported to exhibit anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory activities and to be a natural alternative to estrogen therapy. Sweet potatoes are a rich source of phytochemical compounds, and plant-derived compounds always have been an important source of several clinically useful biomolecules. This chapter aims to focus on the health benefits and phytochemical composition of sweet potato with special emphasis on 4-ipomeanol. 4-Ipomeanol, produced by infected sweet potatoes, is a potential anticancer agent. Earlier studies revealed that bioactivation of 4-ipomeanol to a cytotoxic metabolite occurred particularly in tissues that are abundant in specific P450 mixed function oxidase enzymes. Based on the above rationale, 4-ipomeanol was the first agent to undergo clinical development as an anticancer agent especially against lung cancer. 4-Ipomeanol as a potential prodrug for P450-directed gene therapy of liver and brain cancers has also been investigated. Recent findings suggest that 18F-labelled 4-ipomeanol could be used in imaging tumors and monitoring enzyme/prodrug interactions.